updated 07:00 am EDT, Wed August 8, 2012

Promotes tablet as a modest replacement for PC

Following a mixed reception of a series of three ads featuring an Apple Genius who helps customers, Apple returns to more familiar territory with the debut of a new iPad TV ad that is titled "All on iPad" and makes the case an iPad can replace a traditional PC for many users. The ad shows users handling a variety of tasks on the iPad, including both passive activities (such as reading), and active uses (creating a business presentation, editing photos).

Notably, the ad (seen below) shows off a third-party add-on product -- the Square credit card reader. In the spot, the narrator (who has listed things users can do with the iPad) mentions "make a sale" as the visual is of a credit card being swiped with the reader, and then a customer signs their name on the iPad with their finger. The ad also shows built-in capabilities such as FaceTime video chatting and sharing a newspaper article with Twitter.

Other activities described and seen in the spot include recipe lookup, using AirPlay to "throw" a movie onto an HDTV (which requires an Apple TV, seen but also mentioned in printed disclaimers at the end of in the ad) and listening to music in iTunes. A feature so far unique to iPhoto for iOS, the creation of a web-published "Photo Journal" type gallery, is shown briefly but also unmentioned in the narration.

The ad ends with the tagline "do it all more beautifully ... with the Retina display ... on iPad." The theme reinforces Apple's view that customers are increasingly getting away from the traditional desktop PC whenever possible, relying more and more on mobile devices ranging from powerful notebooks that replicate desktop functionality to lighter, simpler devices that are capable of covering the most common uses. The company calls this phenomena "the post-PC era."

Experienced computer users are likely to be loathe to give up processing power on the road anytime soon, but the mainstream of users mostly require computers only for a relatively small and "light duty" list of tasks that includes social networking, casual games, multimedia editing, viewing and sharing, email and chatting, and generally light business software (word processing, slideshows, spreadsheets). Many of these duties can now be accomplished on smartphones, though tablets offer larger workspaces that many users, particularly older ones, find more comfortable.